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Men's lacrosse ranked eighth in both polls

February 28, 2013

Men's lacrosse ranked eighth in both polls

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- An overtime loss to the No. 3 Notre Dame didn't negatively affect Penn State's ranking in the latest lacrosse polls. In fact, in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, it improved its place to eighth. The Nittany Lions maintained eighth in the USILA Coaches Poll as well in the week ending Feb. 24.

For the first time ever, PSU has posted back-to-back weeks ranked in eighth. For the since 1996, a Penn State men's lacrosse team has been ranked in the USILA Top 10 in back-to-back weeks. Seventeen years ago, Penn State was ranked 10th or better from Mar. 18-Apr.8 with a high of eighth on Apr. 1.

The Nittany Lions suffered a heartbreaking 10-9 overtime loss to the Fighting Irish in a game that saw four lead changes and seven ties. In the final 24 seconds of regulation alone, Penn State lost an 8-7 lead, Notre Dame took a 9-8 lead and junior Tom LaCrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.) tied the game again with sixth-tenths of a second left on the clock. Jack Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) led the Nittany Lion attack with four points on a hat trick and an assist.

ND's Matt Kavanagh scored the game winner for the Irish, who feature second in both polls this week. The Irish received one of 11 first-place votes from USILA, while garnering four first-place votes of the 25 available from Inside Lacrosse.

This week Penn State plays host to yet another highly anticipated matchup when No. 16 Ohio State visits Happy Valley on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game is slated to be played at Penn State Lacrosse Field next to the Multi-Sport Complex. Admission and parking is free. The Buckeyes are 3-0 after defeating Marquette 18-8 in the Golden Eagles' inaugural varsity game. OSU is 13th in this week's Nike/Inside Lacrosse rankings.

Penn State's tough schedule continues after Ohio State with games against No. 17/16 Lehigh (March 9) and No. 5/7 Massachusetts (March 16). The Lehigh game is part of a tripleheader in the Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic at Chester's PPL Park outside of Philadelphia at 5 p.m. Tickets starting at $25 for the tripleheader are available on PhiladelphiaUnion.com or by calling 1-800-298-4200.